Boulder textbook buyer alleges unfair treatment by CU

Police: Businesses aren't allowed to advertise on campus

Bill Shrum, right, of Shipping On The Hill, hands textbooks to a co-worker as (from left) Sean O Donnell, Anthony Toth and Whit Adams wait in line last December at Shipping on The Hill.
(
Zak Wood
)

The owner of Shipping On The Hill -- which buys back and rents textbooks -- says the University of Colorado is trying to squelch competition with its own bookstore by not allowing the company to advertise on the campus.

On Monday, the business hired a sign twirler to stand beside a campus walkway and advertise that students could get "Cash for books at Shipping On The Hill."

The sign twirler was given a written warning by CU police for unlawful conduct on public property and asked to leave.

"One of the policies the university has is that the university facilities aren't supposed to be used for commercial advertising and things like that," said Cmdr. Tim McGraw, spokesman for CU police. "This is a real chronic problem, particularly at the beginning of semesters. People can be inundated with peddlers."

While commercial businesses are allowed on the campus, they have to go through a process to get permission and then schedule a time and place, said Bronson Hilliard, university spokesman.

"If we don't regulate this, then our students face the possibility of running a gauntlet of advertisers all over campus," he said. "It would be like you're outside a Las Vegas hotel."

Those at Shipping On The Hill, at 1305 College Ave. in Boulder, said they've been on the campus before handing out fliers -- and they've seen other businesses do the same -- and never had a problem before.

Advertisement

Now the business, which gives some of its textbook proceeds to student groups that round up sellers, is trying to go through official channels with the help of some students. But the owner, Mike Clear, is worried that the university is giving him the runaround to protect its own bookstore by not letting students know there are other options for selling back their used books.

"We're recognizing this semester that the university is doing everything they can to hold onto their monopoly of textbooks," Clear said. "We think that an institution that teaches students to use information to make educated decisions should not withhold specific information to serve their own interest."

Hilliard says that's simply not true.

"We would never use the official policy-enforcement body of the university, i.e. the CUPD, to crack down on a competitor," he said.

MacIntyre feels Colorado is capable of making run at bowl gameCU BUFFS FALL CAMPWhen: 29 practices beginning Wednesday morning 8:30-11 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday practices are open to the media and public next week. Full Story

It didn't take long for Denver music observers to notice Plume Varia. Husband and wife Shon and Cherie Cobbs formed the band only two years ago, but after about a year they started finding themselves on best-of lists and playing the scene's top venues. Full Story